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on Coherence
> Statement
by WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi
(MS Word format, 3 pages, 72KB)
> Statement
by IMF Managing Director Horst Köhler (MS Word format,
4 pages, 54KB)
> Statement by World Bank President James Wolfensohn
(MS Word format, 8 pages, 134KB)
> Statement
by WTO General Council Chair Carlos Pérez Del Castillo
(MS Word format, 6 pages, 38KB)
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At this critical time, political commitment to multilateralism in
economic policymaking is more important than ever to enable all
countries to share in the prosperity that globalisation offers, and to
ensure that a more prosperous and equitable world becomes a more stable
and secure world as well.
Over the past
few years, governments have agreed on such ambitious initiatives to
support development as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
Initiative, the Millennium Development Goals, the Doha Development
Agenda and the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development. The
level of ambition is commensurate with the scale of the challenges the
world faces in each of these areas. Lowering our sights is not an option
in any of them. Nor can any of the aims be achieved in isolation because
lack of progress in one area makes progress in the others far more
difficult. Recognising that the policies that governments promote
through the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank are inter-connected is
essential if the world is to achieve sustained economic growth,
sustainable development, poverty reduction and financial stability.
The economic
interests of developing countries lie at the heart of the Doha Round.
That is why we share a deep sense of concern about delays that have
arisen in the Doha market access negotiations. Pledges of action are no
longer sufficient. We appeal to heads of Government at the forthcoming
G-8 Summit to provide the political guidance that is needed to allow the
trade negotiations to move forward again before the WTO Ministerial
Conference in Cancún in September. Political opinion in the G-8 needs to
appreciate fully the value of liberalising world trade, particularly in
agriculture – a sector of critical importance to development. Trade is
vital not only for the direct benefits it brings, but also for
increasing the flows of financial and real investment resources to
developing countries which generate the income growth and job
opportunities that help raise people out of poverty and make economies
more resilient to shocks. Bold action now to reinforce long-term growth
fundamentals through freer trade will boost confidence and help to
strengthen the emerging economic recovery. By pulling together in a
multilateral context the G-8 will help to maintain the momentum of
structural economic reform over the longer term in developed and
developing countries alike.
In today's
meeting of the WTO General Council we have been discussing how to better
integrate trade, development and finance. The WTO, the IMF and the World
Bank are cooperating to support the full engagement of developing
countries in global trade negotiations to produce an outcome that
favours the expansion of their trade. Better market access for
developing countries’ exports is essential for raising and sustaining
their economic growth and reducing poverty. At the same time, developing
countries need to place trade integration as a central plank of their
development and poverty-reduction strategies. These efforts must be
backed up by more focused and generous technical and financial support
particularly for the poorest countries to help them build the human,
institutional and physical capital needed to improve trade opportunities
and to integrate the poorest countries successfully into the world
economy.
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From left to right: James Wolfensohn, Supachai Panitchpakdi and Horst
Köhler
Video
highlights:
start of the meeting and joint press conference (Windows Media format, 3 minutes)
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